No dreadlocks allowed? Coach, athlete allege discrimination at this Kansas college
Allegations of discrimination and racial discord at Highland Community College in Kansas have roiled the school’s athletic department, raising questions about how minority student-athletes are treated and recruited.
B.J. Smith, the women’s basketball head coach at the college, recently filed a complaint with the NAACP alleging racial discrimination and alleging that Athletic Director Bryan Dorrel told him to recruit players the rural community in northeastern Kansas “could relate to.”
A former football player also filed a complaint, accusing school officials of banning him from campus and rescinding a scholarship because he wore dreadlocks.
The serious allegations and claims of unfair treatment within the school’s football and women’s basketball programs must be addressed by Dorrel, President Deborah Fox and the college’s board of trustees.
School officials have denied wrongdoing.
Board of Trustees Chairman Tom Smith hung up when contacted by The Star Editorial Board and didn’t return messages seeking comment.
Litigation is possible. The ACLU of Kansas is looking into the allegations, as is a local chapter of the NAACP, said Marty Keenan, a Wichita-area attorney speaking on the NAACP’s behalf.
Neither organization would comment on specific claims. But a significant number of them were deemed credible, Keenan said, and remain under investigation.
“The NAACP has worked to secure private civil rights lawyers for the aggrieved parties,” he said.
Highland Community College leadership has had little to say about the multiple complaints that raise concerns about a possible pattern of racial discrimination within the athletic department. School officials must respond to the charges directly and ensure no student is treated differently because of their skin color, sex — or even their hairstyle.
Athletic department in turmoil
Success on game day has not been an issue at Highland Community College.
The football team finished this past season 6-4 and claimed victories over two top-10 teams. The women’s basketball team finished the 2019-20 regular season ranked No. 13 in the nation with a 21-3 record.
But off the field and away from the arena, racially tinged turmoil has taken hold across the athletic department.
In December, Highland Community College indefinitely suspended the entire women’s basketball staff with pay after concerns of academic fraud were raised. The school and the National Junior College Athletic Association continue to review allegations that coaches completed coursework for players.
The NJCAA does not comment on pending investigations.
Head coach B.J. Smith, a white man with Native American ancestry, was reinstated in January. Two assistants, both African-American men, remained sidelined until the team’s season ended last week.
Smith and his players were prohibited from talking about the suspension, but two women’s basketball players told The Star Editorial Board that the allegations were untrue.
So why were Smith and staff suspended before the investigation was completed?
Smith said he faced scrutiny after his first meeting with Dorrel, who was hired in September. The athletic director soon raised questions about the athletes the nine-year head coach was recruiting, according to a complaint Smith filed with the NAACP.
“It was a very uncomfortable meeting as after the initial pleasantries he began to tell me that I lacked integrity, my players were an embarrassment in the community and I needed to recruit more players the culture of the community could relate to,” Smith wrote. “I immediately said, ‘what do you mean’ and he said, ‘you know exactly what I mean.’ ”
In the small Kansas town of Highland where the population is predominantly white, that coded directive sent a troubling message.
A Title IX violation?
Keenan, the attorney, said the school may also have violated the federal law that prohibits sex discrimination at any institution or in any program that receives federal funding.
“Title IX guarantees women and men teams equal opportunities to be successful,” he said. “Even if the suspension of the three coaches was justified, leaving the women’s team with a vastly inferior experience compared to the men’s team violates the law. The lack of assistant coaches is particularly telling.”
Highland retained Demetrius J. Peterson of Kansas City-based Husch Blackwell to investigate those concerns, and that inquiry is ongoing.
Dorrel denied the women’s basketball program was singled out because of the demographics of the players, a majority of whom are African American.
But suspended assistant basketball coach Jered Ross said that Fox, the school president, had a problem with former football coach Aaron Arnold and Smith’s recruitment of minority student-athletes.
“Deborah Fox is not fit to be at Highland Community College, especially around minority students,” Ross told The Star Editorial Board. “Bryan Dorrel isn’t, either.”
After Dorrel was hired in September, he said publicly that accountability within the athletic department and student academic success were of utmost importance. Another stated goal was to create a positive learning environment for student-athletes.
That certainly didn’t match up with at least one Highland football player’s experience.
Antoine Thompson, a 21-year-old redshirt sophomore wide receiver from Plant City, Florida, filed a discrimination complaint with the NAACP. He says Dorrel told him that he was no longer welcome on campus because of his shoulder-length dreadlocks.
Arnold resigned in November as the third-winningest football coach in program history. He declined to say why he stepped down.
Dorrel “was saying with a new staff coming in, (administrators) wouldn’t put up with dreads and wicks on the team or in the community,” Thompson said. Wicks are a thicker dreadlock hairstyle.
Dorrel denies he singled out Thompson or any other player because of their hairstyle. He referred further questions to Eric Ingmire, Highland’s vice president for student services. Ingmire said privacy laws prevent him from commenting on specific students.
A change in culture
Highland’s renewed emphasis on academics, character and recruiting locally came in response to the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference mandate to limit out-of-state football players at 55 beginning in the 2021-22 school year. Football teams are allowed a maximum of 85 players.
Race was not a factor, Dorrel said.
“We will take any kid that wants to be here,” he said. “We want to emphasize the importance of academics. We care about effort in the classroom.”
While Dorrel has publicly said the right things about discipline and academic excellence, the private conversations described by players and coaches point to serious problems within the athletic department. Administrators must put policies and programs in place to ensure that all student-athletes are treated fairly and equally — and to guard against even the appearance of discrimination.
Only then can this small community college in northeastern Kansas feel confident that its campus is an inclusive place where all students are welcome.